Rookies, Rafters, and Roofers

Working on the construction team in Moldova has been an amazing blessing. Most of us had barely used a hammer before we arrived, and now I think we are ready to start our own construction company. I was supposed to post this two days ago, but I guess that fact that I haven't is proof that we have been extremely busy. We started working on Dima's house, which when we started was four really small rooms, a leaky roof, moldy furniture, and garbage everywhere. I guess you can say we did our own little extreme makeover, Rolling Hills style. We had the privilege of working with four of the oldest guys at the camp, plus Dima and his brothers, which they went to work on demoing the roof, the chimney, the ceiling, and the old furniture. We replaced the whole roof, tacked on some new drywall, cleared away three truckloads of garbage, cleared away some bushes, and bought them some new appliances. We spent a lot of time climbing through rafters and balancing across beams to tack in the new roof.

God has really blessed and protected us. We haven't been working in the greatest conditions, but we have been very careful with every step. Lee, our safety expert, has really been on us, "Safety is no accident." It's been great having someone always looking out for us. Dave Shurson had a close call, but only got scratched up. A few bandages and he was back up in the rafters. It has been absolutely an honor to work with all the guys on this team, including our new Moldovan co-workers and friends. We have gained so much wisdom, respect, and love for each other, and we have seen God work through each of us individually.

Everyday we also had a chance to go to the camp for about two hours. It was great to get to know some of the kids, and to see how the other half of our group was sharing the love of Christ with so many kids that needed it. There have been so many breakthroughs and so many reports of kids coming to know Christ. Everybody fell in love with those kids, even the Construction team that only saw them for a total of maybe 8 hours this week, it was extremely hard to say goodbye.

Tomorrow is our last day in Moldova, and we are going over to Dima's house, as a whole group, to pray blessings over it and for God to have his hand of protection on it and all who live there. It is great to see Dima and his friends work on the house and to see them smile, proud of the work they had accomplished. I hope Dima gains a sense of ownership and pride over this house, and will use it to glorify God. Most of all, I pray that Dima will surrender himself to the Lord and use his talents to share Christ with others.

I guess we will see you all in a few days. Goodnight and God Bless from Moldova.

Travis